This document discusses how activating prior knowledge and making connections can help students, especially culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students, better understand new information. It recommends providing visual aids like pictures to help students connect new vocabulary or concepts to what they already know before reading. This helps students draw from their own experiences and knowledge to make sense of new texts and information.

1. Activating Prior
Knowledge and
Making Connections

2. All readers have personal
experiences, knowledge of the
world, and some previous
experiences with text.
They bring this prior knowledge
to the text to help them
understand.

3. Readers connect new
information to their existing
knowledge base.
For CLD students something
as simple as picture can help
activate what they already
know.

4. Imagine you are a fourth grader
on the carpet for read aloud with a
room full of other students and a
teacher who speak languages
other than yours.

5. Today we are going to read a book about
sommerfugl's. Let's think about what we
already know about sommerfugl's and
make a list. Tell me what you know
about them...
What we Know
It's a chacter from Harry Potter.
I've never heard that word before.
I think it's a food.
It's a place in Egypt.
maybe it's an animal.

6. Now imagine your teacher provides you
with with visual support to help activate
your prior knowledge and make
connections.....

7. Today we are going to read a
book about sommerfugl's.
Here are some pictures of
sommerfugl's you may have seen
before.
Think about what you already
know.

8. Now, tell me what you know about
sommerfugl's. Share out and we'll
make a list of Everything we already
know.
What we know
they are caterpillars first
they fly
they have wings
my grandma collects them
they eat bugs
they have cocoons
they are fuzzy

9. Just asking students to tell you
about what they know isn't
enough if they don't have a
visual connection to the words
you are using.

10. Providing charts, pictures,
and picture walks prior to new
knowledge will increase
understanding.